What is it ?

Ancient Rome is one of the most well-studied civilizations on Earth, but there are some aspects of the culture that still puzzle researchers today. Among the oddest mysteries the Romans left behind are small, hollow dodecahedra — 12-sided objects — with no apparent purpose. These dodecahedra are usually about the size of a human fist or a baseball, although the ones that have been found by archaeologists range from 1.5 inches to 4.5 inches tall. Each pane typically contains a differently sized hole between .2 and 1.5 inches wide, and each corner is marked by a spherical stud. The first one was unearthed in 1739, and more than 100 have been discovered since then, mostly around ancient Britain, Gaul, and Roman Germany.

Despite having nearly 300 years to figure it out, archaeologists still aren’t even close to sure what the Gallo-Roman dodecahedra are for, but they do have some wildly disparate ideas. The objects could have been used for a game that’s disappeared from the historical record, for detecting counterfeit coins (some of them were even discovered in coin hoards), or as surveying tools. Names for the zodiac were found on one dodecahedron, leading some to believe that they could be used in astrology. Other ideas include a musical instrument, candle holder, child’s toy, calendar, or a gauge for water pipes.

Id say its for measuring pipe fittings but its also practical as a candle holder .

It's a traffic light viewer. Traffic lights back in the day were mounted on the same side you stopped on which sometimes made it difficult to see the light if you were first in line, this helped reflect the light from above so you could tell when the light changed.

Iron Cone On Either Side Of A Gate Outside The Entry To A Building In Bath England - what was it used for ?

This was called a Snuffer . They were on the gates outside of the doors of the well to do before electricity and you navigated streets carrying a torch . Your stuck your torch into it to put it out when you arrived at your destination .

Daily Bread wrote:

I've never seen one of those before but it's good idea for the time.

Red Lily wrote:

Daily Bread wrote:

I've never seen one of those before but it's good idea for the time.

As a kid my mother had something like this on her car

its a hoax. heres why. imagine having a stamping machine that articulate in AD 350 ( fall of rome in england ). now explain how every coin from around that date was die stamped so piss poorly.